‘Dancing With the Stars’ recap: April 18

Ok, we’ll say it: It’s a little awkward watching Hines Ward get romantic. Not that we don’t love Hines and think he’s an amazing competitor, but it was just a little weird watching this week’s Rumba routine.

We’re not sure if it was because the usually sultry dance was set to a decidedly unromantic song. Who seriously thought dancing to “God Bless the USA” was a good idea? It just smacked of the Republican National Convention, and they should have pulled that mess last season with Bristol Palin.

Getting back to Hines and Kym, though, maybe the major complication for their Rumba was because their practice routines were more like something you would see on the gridiron.

“I’m kind of like a cave man in the Rumba because I’ve dropped Kym a couple times, we’ve head butted a few times, [and] she’s punched me in the ribs,” Hines admitted, rattling off a list of ballroom bustups he got into this week. “Right now, the Rumba isn’t looking too romantic.”

We know Hines can do fun and flirty, but his romantic side wasn’t quite working for us. Still, the pair managed to pull it together for show time with a fluidity that we haven’t seen from Hines yet in the competition. It was great to see that he could do the Rumba, but for us, it was still all kinds of awkward.

The judges loved it, though, giving Hines and Kym their highest scores of the season.